Strictly Ballroom is a 1992Australianromantic comedy film directed by Baz Luhrmann and
produced by M&A Productions. The film has been shown in at
least 86 countries and furthermore has been placed as the film
option on the British, South-African and Irish school leaving
examinations for English.

The film was based on a 1986 stage play written by Luhrmann and
Andrew Bovell. Film producer Ted Albert had seen the stage play performed
at the Wharf Theatre. He and his business partner Tristam Miall
believed the play could be successfully translated into a musical.
Subsequently, Tristram Miall approached Baz Luhrmann to buy the
film rights. They commissioned Baz Luhrmann to write and direct the
film adaption and Albert spent three years raising film
capital.

Contents

Plot

Strictly Ballroom tells the story of Australian ballroom dancer,
Scott Hastings (Paul
Mercurio). Scott comes from a family with a history of ballroom
dancing and has been training since childhood. Scott's mother
Shirley teaches ballroom dancing, and his father Doug meekly
handles maintenance chores at the dance studio. Scott has become
very proficient, but encounters considerable resistance when he
tries to dance his own steps in preference to the traditional
ballroom moves. Scott's steps are not strictly ballroom.
His dancing partner Liz (Gia Carides) leaves him, and try-outs start
to find a new dance partner. Meanwhile Scott is secretly rehearsing
with plain and ordinary Fran (Tara Morice), who has been dancing for only
two years and whose only partner has been a female friend. Fran
shyly approaches Scott one evening after class and says she wants
to dance with him at the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix. Scott is dubious,
but Fran convinces him to give her a one-hour trial and eventually
he agrees. When Fran begins incorporating Pasodoble steps into their routine, Scott
realises her potential. He walks Fran home one night and finds her
Spanish family living in a tiny home near the railway tracks. As
their rehearsals progress, Scott finds Fran more attractive and
self-confident.

At a dance competition the Hastings family attends, they find
out that Tina Sparkle (Sonia Kruger), an acclaimed Pan-Pacific
Grand Prix dancer, is looking for a new dancing partner. Fran
arrives just as Scott's mother Shirley is talking excitedly about
the opportunity for Scott. Fran thinks she's talking about Fran's
partnership with Scott, and agrees enthusiastically until she
realizes Shirley is talking about Tina. Upset, Fran runs off as
Scott appears. Scott snubs Tina and runs after Fran. He explains
the situation and they start dancing backstage. Tina, Liz and the
Hastings family chase Scott, and are shocked to find him dancing
with Fran. Liz insults Fran, causing her to stumble and apparently
prove their point that a beginner cannot dance with a professional.
Humiliated, Fran leaves in tears.

Scott follows her home and tries to apologize. When Fran's
protective father finds them talking, he angrily confronts Scott.
However, when he learns that Scott and Fran are dance partners, he
challenges Scott to demonstrate the Paso Doble. Scott's first showy
attempt draws laughter from the family, but Fran's grandmother
helps Scott understand how to feel the rhythm within himself and
Fran's father teaches Scott and Fran authentic Paso Doble steps.
(It becomes clear at this point that Fran lost her mother many
years ago.)

Scott begins spending all his time rehearsing with Fran at her
house, until Barry Fife (Bill Hunter), Australian Dancing
Federation chairman, tells Scott he must know "the truth" about his
parents Doug and Shirley—they too were ballroom dancing champions
until they lost the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix. Fife said this was
because Doug had become self-obsessed and danced his own steps.
Barry convinces Scott to dance with Liz instead of Fran so he can
win "for his father's sake". However, this is later revealed as a
lie, part of Barry's plot to fix the competition so Scott and Liz
will lose. Scott starts training with Liz, while an unhappy Fran
goes back to the beginner's class.

At the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix, Doug Hastings finally manages to
pull Scott aside and tells the real story—Doug never danced at the
competition, because Barry convinced Shirley the only way to win
was to dance the conventional steps with their friend Les. Shirley
and Les lose the contest anyway. After hearing his father's
revelation, Scott finds Fran and asks her to dance with him. Scott
and Fran return to the floor and "dance from the heart," drawing
cheers from the crowd. A furious Barry Fife interrupts the
performance and disqualifies them, but they dance anyway; finally,
the music resumes and the couple's spirited dancing brings down the
house. In the end, it is not revealed whether Scott and Fran win or
lose, as in the story, that is not an important factor. As the
performance ends, Doug asks Shirley to dance. The entire audience
steps onto the dance floor and all begin dancing as Fran and Scott
kiss.

Original
play

The film was an adaptation of an original short play of the same
name created by Luhrmann and first staged in 1986. At the end of
1988, Luhrmann was approached by producer Tristram Miall to
transform his play into a movie.

Luhrmann told Playbill that he would revive the play
onstage sometime in 2005, but this never happened.

Awards

Strictly Ballroom was screened in the Un Certain
Regard section at the 1992 Cannes Film
Festival,[1]
winning the "Award of the Youth" prize in the foreign film
category. It was sought after by distributors from across the
world. Immediately after its showing at Cannes, it was sold to 86
countries for more than $10 million. It has been placed as the film
option on the British, South-African and Irish school leaving
examinations for English, alongside such classics as On the
Waterfront and Ten Little Indians.

From Wikiquote

Strictly Ballroom is
a 1992Australianromantic comedy film about Scott
Hastings, a championship ballroom dancer who wants to dance
non-Federation steps and his unlikely dance partner, Fran, a
seemingly plain and ordinary dancing student. It is adapted from
the short 1986 play of the same name.

Contents

Scott
Hastings

We're telling a story. The rumba is the dance of love. Look at
me like you're in love.

I have to help Wayne with his bogo pogo.

You know what I said about the rumba and it being pretend? I
think I made a mistake.

I don't want you to be like them. You're better than all of
them.

Look, a beginner has no right to approach an open amateur.

Fran

A life lived in fear is a life half lived.

You really are a gutless wonder!

Hard? Hard? How hard do you think it's been for
me? To get you to dance with me in the first place?
Frangipannidellasqueegymop. "Wash the coffee cups, Fran,
how's your skin, Fran?" Hard?

I understand. You've got your Pan Pacfics to win and I'm back
in beginners, where I belong.

Doug
Hastings

[repeated line] Son, can I bend your ear for a
tick?

We had the chance but we were scared. We walked away. We
lived our lives in fear!

[final line] Shall we dance?

Barry
Fife

Well, you can dance any steps you like... that doesn't mean
you'll win.

One bad egg can rot the whole barrel.

There are no new steps!

Others

Kylie: A bit of musicality,
please!

Liz:[to Scott] I'm not dancing with
you, all right? I'm not dancing with you 'til you dance like you're
supposed to!

Dialogue

Liz: What do I want? I'll tell you what I
want! I want Ken Railings to walk in here right now, and say "Pam
Shortt's broken both her legs, and I wanna dance with you!"

[The door flies open, and Ken walks in.]

Ken: Pam Shortt's broken both her legs, and I
wanna dance with you.

Kylie: That was unexpected.

Scott: Look, a beginner has no right to
approach an Open Amateur.

Fran: Yeah, well an Open Amateur has no right
to dance non-Federation steps, but you did, didn't you?

Scott: But that's different.

Fran:How is it different? You're
just like the rest of them! You think you're different, but you're
not, because you're just, you're just really scared! You're really
scared to give someone new a go, because you think, you know, they
might just be better than you are! Well, you're just pathetic, and
you're gutless. You're a gutless wonder! [shouting]Vivir con miedo, es como vivir a medias!

Barry: Where do you think we'd be if everyone
went around making up their own steps?